We just got back from vacation in Rome.
We got fined by the local bus patrol, failing to validate our bus ticket on our first day in Rome. 52 euros each, certainly a hard lesson as Rome seems to have little forgiveness towards furst time tourists.
It seems validation, a time stamp is used on busses, metro, and trains. Our 3 weeks in the Mediterranean were overall very good. A 10 day cruise on Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas made life so much easier.
On your recommendation we stayed at hotel Modigliani met Luca the owner. We did ask for a discount but as yet gotten no response. Luca was very gracious to both myself and Gonzalo my partner. Thanks for the tip. A great location.
Certainly planning, logistics is important, I just didn't realize how much so. It's those little things that can trip you up, like the ticket validation.
We were taken back by the cigarettes butts along every sidewalk and the graffiti, and yes there are homeless still, even just outside our hotel sadly.
Rome has yet to enact a fine penalty for disposing your cigarettes as does Milan at 450 euros per incident.
Mid September was still quite warm, humid and crowded yet better than July or so we heard.
Our walk along the Tiber river was pleasant and we even saw the Pope at St. Peters square
Sadly he did not look so well given his age at 84 I believe.
I asked Gonzalo would he live in Rome, he shook his head no, as no green gardens, little peace and quiet as we're used to here in our garden home in Spokane.
Thank you Steve and your staff as the Mediterranean cruise ports guidebook was so helpful, as we met others too using the same text.
Yes, much has changed little Santorini, Mykonos and Crete are no longer quaint escapes but bustling commercialized communities swelling native populations by 5 fold.
It's a yin yang, of love/hate affair for the tourists as we saw the graffiti, "no more cruise ships" in Athens.
Would we go back? Venice for sure, the rest no. Except to see the more remote countryside perhaps yes. Too crowded.
My sister just did a personal boat cruise in France, self driven for a week through some 70 locks, only $400 pp. They had a great time.